Economy / Economic News

As President Trump first took office America was facing an historically stagnant economy. It was the first time in the history of America that the economydid not grow by at least 3%in any year of a sitting President (Obama). In fact it had beenover 12 yearssince the economy grew by atleast 3%. Average growth under Obama of 2.1% is thefourth lowestin history. The historically slow economy was stifled by President Obama's federal regulations that topped over$100 billion annually. President Trump had promised to end the massive federal regulations and restrictions on American businesses and individuals. Will the economic news improve under Trump's presidency?

*UPDATE: For the first time in more than a decade the GDP growth exceeded 3% overr the calendar year.U.S. household income is at a record high and U.S. household net worth is at a recordhigh. America regains top spot as the world's most competitive economy for first time since 2015. The overall rate of poor Americans has declined three years in a row.

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1/30/17: President Donald Trump signed an executive order to dramatically pare back federal regulations by requiring agencies to cut two existing regulations for every new rule introduced. An order instructing agencies that whenever they introduce a regulation, they must first abolish two others. "This will be the biggest such act that our country has ever seen. There will be regulation, there will be control, but it will be normalized control," Trump states. We agree with the President here. Yes America needs regulations to keep corporations in check but not to the extent where it had decimated small businesses across the country resulting in the historically bad economy.

​2/03/17: President Trump signed two executive orders rolling back key financial regulations of the Obama era, including restrictions on Wall Street banks and on financial advisers who sell clients expensive financial products with higher commissions.The two executive actions don't take effect immediately, but rather ask federal agencies to review options to cancel existing or proposed regulations.

​​​​​​​​3/10/17: U.S. overall construction sector saw largest gainin 10 years.

4/25/17: Trump signed an presidential executive order on promoting agriculture and rural prosperity in America. The order creates a task force, led by Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue, that will identify policy options to promote U.S. agriculture business and job growth in rural America. The task force must submit a report to Trump within 180 days.
The task force will look at regulations that impede U.S. agricultural growth and for ways to encourage the use of agricultural products made in America.

4/26/17: President Donald Trump signed an executive orderto allow national monument designations to be rescinded or reduce the size of sites as the administration pushes to open up more federal land to drilling, mining and other development. "Today we're putting the states back in charge," Trump said, adding that they should decide which land is protected and which is open for development. "I commend the Trump administration for stopping this cycle of executive abuse and beginning a review of past designations," Speaker Paul Ryan stated. This order reverses yet another one of previous President Obama's regulations which stifled the economy. Visit our ENVIRONMENT page to read how this order is graded based on environmental issues.

​5/1/17: President Trump signed an executive order establishing an American Technology Council to help the government "transform and modernize" its digital services. The ultimate goal: "coordinate the vision, strategy, and direction" and "advice to the president related to policy decisions" regarding the federal government's use of information technology. Trump looks to be continuing his efforts to forge a better working relationship with Silicon Valley.

5/29/17: Credit scores for U.S. consumers reached a record high. (For the first time, the average national FICO score has reached 700) while the share of Americans deemed to be some of the riskiest borrowers hit a record low.

​6/1/17: Americans are the most upbeat about their finances in a decade.

​7/11/17: U.S. small business optimism is at its highest level in more than a decade.

​​7/17/17: International arrivals and travel-related spending in America are up in 2017compared with the same period in 2016.

​7/18/17: Foreign investment in the U.S. housing market saw an explosion of 49% growth from last year as it surged to an all-new high.

​10/13/17: U.S. consumer sentiment (level of spending that consumers are currently engaging in) surged to a 13-year high.

10/24/17: There are nearly 1.5 million fewer Americans on food stamps under President Trump. That is the lowest level in 7 years.

​​10/26/17: President Donald Trump signed an executive orderdesigned to speed the approval of drone usage for companies likes Amazon who have been dreaming "Drone Deliveries". The administration says it wants to open new commercial uses for the aircraft and create jobs, following through on his promise to the industry to slash regulatory barriers that are sending companies to test the technology overseas.

​10/26/17: Americans are in their bestholiday shopping mood in 10 years. That represents one of the biggest year-over-year increases in Gallup's trend.

1/8/18: Keeping one of his many promises to the forgotten man and woman, President Trump signed an executive order to expand broadband in rural areas where it is desperately needed. The Federal Communications Commission estimates 39% of people living in rural regions do not have access to broadband, compared with just 4% of people in cities.

​4/12/18: Over 94% of manufacturers have a positive outlook on their company’s prospects in the U.S. economy – the second-highest level ever recorded by the NationalAssociation of Manufacturers.

​4/28/18: First reading on first-quarter GDP is up 2.3% vs 2.0% growth expected.

5/2/18: The once puny dollar is starting to look mightier again. And that could be bad news for Corporate America.

The US Dollar Index, which measures the value of the greenback against the euro, the yen and several other major global currencies, has been on a tear. It's risen more than 3.5% in just the past two weeks and is now up slightly for the year.

5/9/18: Housing consumer confidence hits record high as home prices skyrocket.

5/19/18: Optimism about the direction of the country has hit an 11-year high of 57%.

​5/23/18: ​US. household income hits another all-time high under Trump.

5/24/18: President Trump signed the Economic Growth, Regulatory Relief, and Consumer Protection Act. The act provides regulatory relief for banking institutions by raising the threshold at which annual risk oversight measures such as stress tests and regulatory compliance measures apply, increasing it to $250 billion from the current $50 billion.

​5/24/18: Home values across the U.S. are rising at their fastest pace since June 2006.

6/4/18: America bounced back to number one on the world's most competitiveness ranking list in 2018. The U.S. leapt three places to take over the top spot in global competitiveness — just ahead of Hong Kong, Singapore, the Netherlands and Switzerland. That jump was based on its "strength in economic performance and infrastructure," ranking first in both areas.

6/20/18: In a stunning turnaround sparked by the improving economy and last December’s tax cuts, over 95% of manufacturers have turned bullish about their future, an all-time record.

6/20/18: Social Security disability benefits are plunging, a startling reversal of a decades-old trend. It is the latest evidence of a stronger economy pulling people back into the job market or preventing workers from being sidelined in the first place. The drop is so significant that the agency has revised its estimates of how long the program will continue to be financially secure. This month, the government announced that the program would not run out of money until 2032, four years later than its previous estimate last year. Two years ago, the government had warned that the funds might be depleted by 2023.

6/22/18: Satisfaction with the direction of America hits an 12-year high.

12/23/18: President Trump signed into law an $867 billion farm bill that provides billions in aid to U.S. farmers. The farm policy legislation passed both the House and Senate with strong bipartisan support Wednesday. The five-year farm bill is monumental legislation that addresses a wide range of areas including farming, nutrition, conservation, trade, energy and forestry.

12/23/18: By Trump signing the sweeping farm bill it also included "The Hemp Farming Act of 2018" a bipartisan legislation delisting hemp as a controlled substance and allowing for the continued growth of North Carolina’s hemp farming industry. "The biggest takeaway is that hemp is now classified as an agricultural commodity," said Blake Butler, Executive Director of the North Carolina Industrial Hemp Association.

12/24/18: Shoppers delivered the strongest holiday sales increase for U.S. retailers in six years.

2/13/18: Trump signs executive order 'prioritizing' AI development. The 'American AI Initiative' also calls for a regulatory framework across industries. The order aims to ensure that AI develops in a manner that reflects U.S. values and to push training for the future workforce.

3/1/19: The U.S. economy grew faster than expected in the 4th quater of 2018 at 2.6%.